


Indestructible

by Trubbishly



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Link dies a lot in BOTW, death mention, i guess, pretty darn short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 00:32:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10686102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trubbishly/pseuds/Trubbishly
Summary: After surviving an obviously fatal wound, Link comes to the realization that his death is no longer permanent and questions the source of this unusual power.





	Indestructible

**Author's Note:**

> Can't believe I'm writing a fanfic for a game I never played and probably never will.  
> I watched a ton of playthroughs...does that count?  
> The environment was enjoyable and Link is a charming silent protagonist, so I wanted to write a little something. (A very little something)

The last of the blood moon’s light seeped away into a rising orange sun. Deep dark blankets of cloud rolled in from over Death Mountain, drifting heavy with rain towards the Twin Peaks. Link felt as if he had just been dragged through icy mountain water in the dead of night. He lay on his back, facing the fiery morning sky. The tall dry grasses danced in the wind of an oncoming storm and tickled him through his vestments. Link reached to his chest with a weary hand. He felt no wound.

Dragging himself into a sitting position, he did not feel the sharp pain he expected, but rather a dull soreness. Certainly, that couldn’t have been a dream. Link remembered vividly the bokoblin thrusting a rusty sword to its hilt in his breast… a shock of fear caused him to jump at the thought. Scrabbling at his chest in panic dragged him back to reality when he was again reminded the wound was not there. This had happened many times, but never so vividly. He had awakened knowing he had died in his dreams, yet the cause of death had always been forgotten. Now, he knew it. He had been riding through the fields at night on his horse…his horse! Where was his horse?

Link tried to scramble to his feet and whistle, but his wobbly legs crumpled beneath him. He huffed and crossed his arms in contemplation. A few birds flapped off in the distance, crying out. The clouds over the mountains came nearer still and Link could feel a hot breeze. Surely, his horse had been clever enough to find a shelter on her own. Sighing, Link tested his legs again. With plenty of wobbly and balancing with his arms out wide, he eventually stood upright and began to limp off. He thought he heard a korok laughing at his attempts. He paid no heed and went to look for shelter.

A whistling ocean of grass lapped at his shaky knees as he hobbled along. The sky grew darker and a sheet of silvery rain hung in the distance. Link’s head was heavy and tired, his face caked with dust and dirt, and the ribbon to hold up his golden hair lost somewhere in the grass. He hadn’t the foggiest idea where he was going. Up ahead in the empty plain, he glimpsed the corpse of an ancient guardian. If it wasn’t still alive, its empty shell would make sufficient shelter. 

Chucking a rock at the hunk of metal wasn’t Link’s brightest plan. He did not have the strength or weapons to handle the automaton monster if it was still mobile. The stone clunked off the shell with a hollow thunk. Breathing a sigh of relief, he knelt beside the empty beast and scrabbled through the dirt to get inside the rusty hull. It was dark, dry, and just the right size for a small Hylian like him. He curled up in a tight ball, letting the musty earth brush coolly against his dirty face. His blue eyes were set on the graying horizon that he viewed from the curling openings in the guardian’s design. A sense of misery was welling up in his unwounded chest.

The rain hit minutes later, loud and strong against Link’s metal surroundings. It came in waves, tearing through the field and bringing out the smells of mud and grass and iron into his lungs. He watched the blurry silver wall of rain intently. His heart was sore and his thoughts were weary. His memories were blurry like the rain. He could feel them within the recesses of his foggy mind, but he could not reach them. He clawed for them miserably, curling up more at his failures to uncover them. The rain roared around him and he wished to cry back at it. All the thoughts he was unable let out in speech came out in an angry rumbling scream that was swallowed by the storm. 

It reminded him how hopelessly alone he was. A person from one hundred years ago gets quite lonely in the present. Why couldn’t he remember? Pura and Impa…they knew him from the past, and yet he couldn’t remember them at all. And Zelda. Yes, she was the princess of Hyrule. He knew this clearly and that it was his duty to somehow help her. But how did she know him? Why did she speak to him? 

Link’s chest tightened as stress built up inside him. He wished the rain would drown it out.  
Zelda. Zelda. Why did she seem so important. The name hit a cord with him and he still couldn’t figure out why. In the seldom memories he had recovered, she seemed rather upset with him. But, he felt only compassion and empathy towards her. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Open your eyes, Link. 

She had greeted him as he entered this unfamiliar new world. She had guided him and warned him and cheered him on from time to time. And her she was again. Link almost leapt up and whacked his head against his low shelter. He waited to hear her voice continue, but it was only followed by rain. Somehow, even though she was trapped within the castle and fighting for her life, she still went out of her way to reach out to him with her voice. A weak smile spread across his face.  
Zelda.

He reached to his chest and touched the invisible sword wound. Was this because of her? She brought him back the first time. Could she do it again and again? Did the world need another hero so badly that she would not let him stay dead under any circumstances? His heart almost leapt out of his frightened chest at the revelation. So, he had died after all. He had died many times. This concept made him shiver despite his dryness and he backed against the inside of the guardian. He was indestructible for the time being.  
Because of Zelda? He shook his head. He didn’t know, but deep in his heart he didn’t doubt it. She was powerful and kind; he could feel it. Link promised he wouldn’t die again. For her sake, he would not let himself burden her already unimaginable burden. 

Enclosed by the metal body of a dead beast, invisible amid the rushing waves of rain and grass, Link did not feel as lonely anymore. Miles away Link knew the calamity pulsed with corruption and turned the air stale in its wake. A million eyes of guardians could watch him, but Link no longer felt as afraid. 

Zelda was with him, whoever she truly was. 

And this time, together, they would win.


End file.
